Page 55 of Floored By Love

Shit.

I just won a gold medal.

14

Camden

Noah picked me up in a bear hug. I couldn’t believe I went from fourth to a silver medal. It all fell apart so quickly for Team Japan, but that happened sometimes.

“You did it, Cam! I’m so proud of you.”

I already felt the tears welling, but I turned to wave to the crowd and tried to find my mother. I laughed. She was standing on her seat, with Erika holding onto her, as she waved an American flag in the air. I smiled back at the cameras and thanked all of Team USA’s supporters. Who knew if the mic was even on?

With no prompting, I made my way over to the athletes by the high bar and shook Hiruto’s hand. It was expected and sportsmanlike, and while it wasn’t any consolation today, he was still one of the best gymnasts in the world. He was two bad routines away from being just that. Riku looked inconsolable, his face in his hands, so I left him alone. Jack congratulated me on my way to Luke, who was talking to Vadim. Vadim pulled me into a hug and congratulated me, leaving me with Luke.

I was nervous about approaching him, but we were supposed to be pretend friends. A hug with huge smiles was expected, right? He broke the silence first.

“You were amazing, Cam.”

“Thanks, Luke. You...uh...did pretty good yourself.”

Ugh.

Two cameras moved in to get different angles as we made awkward baby steps towards a hug. The attention made it worse, but came with the territory. The USA sweeping the top two spots in the all-around was big news. Even Cassandra was all smiles.

I was taller, so my arms went above his and he fit right into my chest. We hadn’t been this close in four years. This wasn’t a bro-hug.

“I’m so happy for you,” Luke whispered into my ear.

I could feel his curls tickling my neck.

“Me too. I mean, I’m happy for you.”

I let go first, and he followed soon after. “See you on the podium.” Luke winked.

Damn. He was being very playful. And again, my groin liked it, and my heart wanted to like it, but my brain was on full alert. I was in post-Olympic medal bliss and I didn’t need to make any rash decisions.

Ten minutes later and I was crying as the Star-Spangled Banner played throughout the arena. It was for Luke, but I couldn’t help but feel it was partially for me too. After earning the seventh seed, I thought my chances were slim, but what did I know?

I guess crying was an overstatement. It was more like I was leaking. There was no sobbing or shoulder movement. It was all very stoic and masculine.

Truthfully, I didn’t care what anyone thought. It was what it was. I had always been an emotional person, especially at sporting events, whether a participant or a spectator. I knew what it was like to lose, so even when it was an athlete on television, I knew what they were feeling. It was cathartic. It was a release. This was the culmination of all my work, and it was over.

For a few days anyway.

And I had a silver medal.

As the music finished, I held my hand over my heart for a few seconds longer as I tried to collect myself. Luke had a sheepish half-smile on his face as he looked over at me. Of course, he wasn’t crying. He gave me another half-hug, and we walked off the stage together to meet back up with Noah and Cassandra.

I gathered up my stuff and headed to the locker room to shower and get ready for the press conference.

“You and Luke are going to have a joint conference.”

“Is that normal?”

“I don’t know. There hasn’t been a one-two finish from the same country since...I don’t know when,” Noah answered, smiling. “But this is coming from USA Gym, so…” He shrugged. “See you in a few.”

“How does it feel knowing that you were only one place away from a gold medal?”